Serendib Scops Owls
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The Serendib Scops Owl (Otus thilohoffmanni) is the most recently discovered bird in Sri Lanka. It was originally located by its unfamilar poo-ooo call in the Kitulgala rainforest by prominent Sri Lankan birder Deepal Warakagoda. Six years later, it was finally seen by him on 23 January 2001 in Sinharaja, and formally described as a species new to science in 2004 (Warakagoda & Rasmussen 2004). Apart from Sinharaja and Kitulgala it has also been met with at Ranakanda Reserve in Morapitiya, and Eratna Gilimale.
It is the first new bird to be discovered in Sri Lanka since 1868, when the Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Whistling Thrush Myophonus blighi was discovered. It is also the 24th (according to some authorities the 27th) endemic bird species for Sri Lanka.
This rare species inhabits the rainforests in the southwestern sector of Sri Lanka. Like most owls, it is strictly nocturnal and hunts insects (e.g. beetles and moths) close to the ground.
Calls / Vocalization
It begins calling at dusk, its frequency rising again some two hours before dawn.
Description
Unlike the other two species of scops owl in Sri Lanka, viz. Indian Scops Owl Otus bakkamoena and Oriental Scops Owl Otus sunia, it does not have ear tufts and its facial disc is only weakly defined. The general color of this 16.5 cm long short-tailed owl is reddish brown with paler underparts, spotted all over with black. The irises are yellow and the feet and claws are white.
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